Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. See below for an idea of what it might look like if I did, and some very good reasons for why I shouldn't.

(a/n: As you can probably tell by the title (or not, if you don't know what the word "denouement" means (in which case, well, neither did I until I saw Clerks and looked it up) this story is at long, long last at an end. Which frankly at this point is fine by me because I've been writing the damn thing since January and it's now more than twice as long as I had originally planned it to be and…

Yeah, I'm just sick of it, basically. This being my second chapter fic for this pairing, I'm starting to consider it as a sort of sophomore slump type of situation and have therefore begun to direct my efforts at making my next fic suck less. As opposed to this one. So it doesn't. Suck less, I mean.)

Chapter 16: Denouement

All things considered, he didn't last long.

"Harry!" said Lavender breathlessly, or at least I think that's what she said. It was a bit hard to tell with all the giggling. "There's someone outside for you!"

"The Fat Lady's told him to shove off about a hundred times," Pavarti threw in between fits of the most irritating laughter you can possibly imagine, "but he said he's not leaving until he talks to you!"

"It's Draco Malfoy," Lavender added as though worried I might've thought it was Father Christmas otherwise.

Ginny stifled a small laugh with her hand, staring back at me with mocking seriousness.

"Oh my. Whatever do you think he wants?" she asked innocently.

I shrugged, smirking thinly. "I can't imagine."

Every pair of eyes in the commonroom followed me when I stood. The snickering trailed me out into the hallway.

"Harry."

If he'd thought this was going to be a private conversation, he was sorely mistaken; Gryffindors aren't much for secrets and most of the house was hovering in a giggling crowd around us. My eyes suddenly glued themselves to the floor and my cheeks glowed red as I mumbled a vague greeting.

"I—erm…how've you been?"

I fought a smile. At least I was as good at making him forget English as he was at doing it to me. "Haven't done much of a life-changing nature in the last two hours, Draco."

"Right. Um. Of course not. I was—" he exhaled sharply, looking around at the people surrounding us in very obvious discomfort. "I was wondering if maybe—look, can you lot stop bloody laughing for eight seconds?" He gritted his teeth angrily and plowed on when the giggling showed no signs of stopping, "If you'd ever consider going out with me again!"

Over the "ooh"s and "aw"s and, of course, giggling, of which there was more than I'd ever been forced to hear in the entire rest of my life put together, I said the only thing that came to mind.

OoOoOo

"Took you long enough."

He folded his arms with a ridiculously self-satisfied smile he could only have learned from me.

"Two hours was too long?"

"You tell me." He launched himself into my arms despite the mortifying wave of jeering this produced from his housemates and kissed me full on the mouth.

"I missed that," I admitted, half-deaf from the squeals of every girl in Gryffindor house, "I missed you. I've just been—"

"A git?"

"Confused," I corrected, though he really wasn't far wrong. "I was…confused about a lot of things, and…well, actually, a lot of this still confuses me, but I don't bloody care anymore." I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose, and added while flushing uncontrollably, "you're the only thing I care about now."

His hand slipped into mine.

"Maybe we should talk about this somewhere else?" he said quietly over the ensuing laughter.

OoOoOo

The walk was directionless, silent, and very, very long. There was little to say that hadn't been said, but the silence was companionable rather than awkward and neither was especially sorry for it.

"I do love you, you know," said Draco at last, the words ringing unnaturally loud in contrast to the immense quiet of everything else. "I've never said it properly, have I? I was always angry, or wanted something, or…" he sighed vaguely. "I've been pretty awful, haven't I?"

"It's worse without you," replied Harry quietly.

"What's worse?"

"Everything."

Draco grinned, the genuine smile that only seemed to grace his face with its presence around The Boy Who Lived.

"Well, if it isn't the happy couple themselves. How sweet."

Draco's eyes narrowed, turning angrily on the source of the remark. "Blaise, I'm warning you right now—"

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of interrupting you and your disgusting little hobbies, Draco."

"Say that again," Draco growled. "Say one more word—"

"And you'll do what, exactly?" Blaise smirked and took a step forward. "Exactly how afraid do I need to be of you? Or is it your convict father I should be—"

"Draco, no!" The vice-like grip Harry had on his arm brought Draco to his senses, wondering exactly when his wand had ended up at Blaise's throat.

"Oh, didn't think I knew about that, did you? I'll give you your mother did an excellent job of keeping it quiet. But I expect she's used to that by now, isn't she?"

"Draco, please don't do anything stupid—"

"Go on, listen to the little mongrel, Draco. Someone in your…delicate position really can't afford to—"

"OI! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THREE THINK YOU'RE DOING?! NO DUELING IN THE BLOODY CORRIDORS, HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO—Harry?"

Three heads simultaneously snapped to face the red-headed, freckled-faced interruption standing at the end of the hallway.

"And…Malfoy. Right. Ginny said you'd gone off together. She had to set off a dungbomb to stop Pavarti and Lavender following you. Er…what're you doing?"

"I'm building a sailboat, Weasley, what the hell does it look like?" snapped Draco, his wand still rested on Blaise's neck.

"Look, Malfoy, I'm a Prefect—"

"So am I."

"Yeah. And you're also breaking just about every rule I can think of, so watch it."

"Can't say I admire your taste in friends, Draco," smirked Blaise. Draco pressed his wand harder against his throat.

"Shut up. Stop talking right now or so help me—"

Carefully, Harry touched the hand holding Draco's wand and eased it out of his grasp. "You really don't want to do that, Draco."

"Yes I do. I won't, because you're asking me not to, but I want to."

Blaise gave a low laugh as Draco took a step back to grasp Harry's hand in his own tense and sweating palm.

"Finally I hear sense from you, even it is for the sake of that miserable excuse for a—"

It was an interesting fact learned by all four boys present that Blaise Zabini screams like a small child when punched.

"Wow. He is really annoying," Ron observed, rubbing thoughtfully at the ridges of his knuckles, which were slightly red where he'd sunk them into Blaise's face.

Blaise lay melodramatically on the floor, whimpering and holding a hand to his bloodied and most likely broken nose. "You…hit me. You just—"

"Yeah. And I'll fucking well do it again if you say another word. Listen," he added to Harry and Draco, who'd been stunned into silence, "I've got to get this git to the hospital wing before he bleeds to death. Are you two all right on your own?"

"We'll manage."

"Right. Get up, Zabini, you idiot, you're getting the floor wet…see you later, Harry. " He gave Draco a small nod and went off down the hallway with a rather confused Blaise shuffling awkward along behind him, muttering quietly to himself, "…but no one ever hits me…"

"Suppose I'm lucky he didn't do the same to you."

Draco raised an eyebrow and Harry noted for the first time the beginnings of a bruise around his left eye.

"Oh," said Harry in a small voice. "He…I'm sorry, Draco, he's a git…"

"I'd be angrier if I didn't know I deserved it," said Draco with a tiny smile. "I…explained things to him and he agreed to stop punching me if I agreed to be less of an idiot."

"You're still an idiot."

Draco grinned evilly, catching Harry in his arms and kissing him lightly on the mouth.

"Not in the hallway," Harry protested. "What if a teacher sees?"

"What are they going to do? Give us detention?"

Harry closed his eyes and allowed Draco deepen the kiss until it was practically obscene. Well, he reasoned silently, worse things have happened.

(a further a/n: Huh. Well, that was lame.

Oh well. Reviews are loved as ever…

P.S.

Seeing as I know you will all be simply DESOLATE (not) with nothing of mine to read, I'll just mention in passing I do in fact have a shiny new fic by the name of "Once" that will be up sometime around...my word, I've posted it today, haven't I? How that for coincidences?

Reading is making for happy tiem, yes?)